Nearby, six American flags were planted along the roadside to symbolize the trapped miners. A few feet away, three more flags were placed to symbolize the fallen rescuers.

Down the road, nearly a dozen handmade signs plaster the side of the road.

"DON'T LEAVE THEM," one reads.

"Dead or alive, they need to come home," said Stephanie McNeal, who put up the signs. "They don't need to stay down there in hell. They need to come home."

Others said Murray has not done enough to rescue the trapped miners. However, officials insist it's too dangerous to send rescuers underground again.

Mining experts brought in over the weekend by mine owners and MSHA concluded Monday that the mine is too unstable to continue underground rescue efforts. Rescuers had been trying to tunnel through the collapsed mine to reach the trapped men when three workers — local coal miners Dale Black, 49, and Brandon Kimber, 29, and mine safety inspector Gary Jensen, 53 — were killed and six others were injured in another seismic event, or "mountain bump."

A woman named Carol, who said her son works at the Crandall Canyon Mine, put up another sign. It read: "Keep your promise. Bring them home. Don't leave them in a black hole."

She's angry the mine could be sealed, yet Murray Energy Corp. could continue mining.

"You still have six men in that mine, but you're still mining?" she said.

Mine closure?

While insisting he would never reopen the Crandall Canyon Mine, Murray left the possibility open to explore it in the future.

"I will never come back to that evil mountain that is alive," Murray said Wednesday night.

Murray said he told MSHA director Richard Stickler that he would submit papers to close the Crandall Canyon Mine. He said comments that he would continue mining were distorted by the United Mine Workers of America. He accused the union of taking advantage of the situation for political gain.

Miners who have been seen returning to the mine have removed some heavy equipment. Mine employees have transferred to other mines in the Price area owned by Utah American Energy, which is owned by Murray Energy Corp.

Murray said he decided to close the mine immediately after he helped pull injured and dead miners from last Thursday's mine collapse. That contradicts statements Murray made Monday when he told reporters the collapsed section of the mine likely would be sealed but that mining may continue elsewhere in it.

The South Crandall Mine has some 11 million tons of coal left in it, according to the Utah Geological Survey's newly released 2006 Coal Report. In his Wednesday night news conference, Murray conceded the company may do studies that look at the feasibility of mining there once again.